Washing-machine.



J. NEGRESCOU.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. I8, 10x6.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. NEGRESCOU.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. I8. I916.

1,244,120. Patented Oct. 23,1917;

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

JOHN NEGRESCOU, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHHVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

Application filed October 18, 1916. Serial No. 126,234.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Join: Nncnnscou, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to washing machines and covers a number of labor saving and efficiency producing improvements.

Among the important objects of the invention are to provide construction and arrangement which combines in one structure means for boiling, washing and rinsing clothes and for drying them to any degree thereby to dispense with separate drying of the clothes and transferring them to the wash machine, to dispense with the use of a wringer, to dis ense with hanging of the clothes and sprinkling thereof; to provide a structure in which Washing can be accomplished by the process of agitating, rubbing,

and suction; and to provide a structure in which rinsing is accomplished by centrifugal force; and to provide a structure in which drying is accomplished by centrifugal force or by heat, or by both.

On the accompanying drawings I show a washing machine which embodies the above and other important features of my invention. In these drawings Figure 1 is a plan View of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view with the tub and clothes basket in diametral section on plane 2-2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a bearing casting for supporting the various basket and agitator driving mechanisms, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on plane 4-4, Fig. 2.

The supporting structure for the machine comprises an annular table 10 mounted on legs 11. The annular table supports a cylindrical tub 12 whose upper end receives and supports the top 13 which'has the substantially semicircular opening 14 for the insertion of clothes into the machine. From the center of the top 13 a bearing hub 15 extends downwardly through which extends the outer shaft 16 and the inner shaft 17. The hub has the intermediate annular supporting ledge 18 for a bearing sleeve 19 secured to the shaft 16, hearing rollers 20 being inserted between the sides of the bearing sleeve and the sides of-the hub, and bearing balls 21 are interposed between the bottom of the sleeve ing interposed between the gears, the ball bearing taking the weight of the shaft 17 and the parts supported thereon.

Below the hub 15 the shaft 16 has a hub 28 secured thereto from which radiate arms 29 to a supporting ring 30, the hub arms and ring being preferably an integral casting. Secured at its upper end to the ring 30 is the cylindrical clothes basket 31 whose cylindrical sides have the vertical corrugations 32 and whose bottom has the corrugations 33, preferably radial. the basket has the openings 34 provided therein between the corrugations for the passage of water.

On the lower end of the shaft 17 a hub 35 is connected by means of a screw 36 threading through the hub and extending into a key-way 37, the hub being thus longitudinally shiftable on the shaft 17 but forced to rotate therewith. The hub supports a clothes gripper and agitator comprising the circular head 38 and the gripper fingers 39 extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom. On account of the various ball bearings described the clothes basket and the agitator are freely suspended in the tub to be readily rotated.

Mounted on the top 13 and extending radially is a casting for supporting the various driving members for the shafts 16 and 17. The base 40 for the casting is detachably secured to the machine top by screws 41 and supports the bearing pedestals 42, 43, 44 and 45 in which the drive shaft 46 is journaled, the inner end of this shaft extending through the bevel gear 47 which meshes withthe gear 22, the outer end of the shaft supporting a driving pulley 48 which is connected by a belt 49 with the pulley 50 on the electric motor M which is mounted on a platform 51 supported on the legs 11 of the machine. A hearing stud 52 extends laterally from the bearing 43, and journaled' on this stud is a bevel gear 53 which is engaged by the bevel pinion '54, this pinion The cylindrical wall of g being secured to the outer end of a hub 55 which receives the shaft 46 and is journaled in the bearing 44,, the inner end of the hub having the clutch flange 56 provided with clutch notches 57. In a similar manner the gear 47 is secured to the inner end of a hub 58 which receives the shaft 46 and is journaled in the bearing 45, the outer end of the hub having the clutch flange 59 provided with clutch notches 60. Slidable on the shaft 46 but keyed to rotate therewith is a clutch collar 61 having at its ends clutch teeth 62 and 63 for engaging respectively in the clutch notches 57 and 60 of the hubs 55 and 58 respectively. A fork lever 64 is pivoted at its lower end to the lug 65 on the base 40 and has pins 66 for engaging in the groove 67 of the clutch collar. When the clutch lever is in vertical or neutral position the drive shaft 46 will be uncoupled from both the pinions 47 and 54. When the clutch lever is swung inwardly the clutch collar will be clutched to the hub 58 and the shaft will drive the bevel gear 47 to' rotate the shaft 16 and the clothes basket. WVhen the clutch lever is swung outwardly the clutch collar will be clutched to the hub 55 and the shaft will rot-ate the pinion 54 which in turn will rotate the bevel gear 53.

An extension 68 on the casting base 40 supports at its end the vertical lug 69 for receiving a screw stud 70 on which is pivoted the hub 71 of the segmental bevel gear 72 whose teeth mesh with the pinion 25 at the upper end of the agitator supporting shaft 17. The segmental gear is thus adapted to swing in a plane parallel with the plane of the gear 53, and the two are connected by a connecting rod 73 which 'at its outer end is pivoted on the crank stud 74 extending from gear 53 and which at its inner end is pivoted on the stud 75 extending from the gear rack.

The arrangement is such that when the gear 53 is rotating the gear rack will be swung to effect axial oscillation of the shaft 17 and of the clothes agitator at the lower end thereof, this occurring when the clutch lever 64 is in its outer position. When the lever is swung in the gear 47 drives the gear 22 and the clothes basket is rotated.

Below the tub 12 a burner 76 such as a gas ring is supported in a suitable manner from the legs 11 and has the fitting 77 for the attachment of a gas hose. Vith such burner attachment the water can be heated directly in the tub. i A drain faucet 78 is provided for drawing the water from the tub. Sometimes, however, it is desirable to save the drained water for another washing and I therefore provide a tank 79 for receiving the water through the outlet 80 controlled by a valve 81, a drain outlet -82 being provided for the tank. This tank may be supported on the platform 51 adjacent the motor.- To facilitate recharging of the drained water into the tub a pump 83 may be provided and adapted by suitable clutch mechanism 84 to be coupledto the shaft of the motor M when desired.

Describing now the operation of the machine, the clothes to be washed are charged into the basket through the opening 14 and after the tub has been filled to the proper height with water the burner is lighted to heat the water. The clutch lever 64 is then thrown outwardly to couple the pinion 54 the same direction but owing to the inertia of the basket the basket will lag and will not travel as fast as the agitator so that there will be relative movement between the basket and the clothes which followthegripper. This causes the clothes to be rubbed on the corrugated surfaces and this greatly assists in the rapid cleaning thereof. Now when the agitator structure rotates in the opposite direction inertia will tend to cause the basket to continue in the opposite direction but before the end of the rotation of the agitator structure the basket will again be dragged along with it, and the resulting relative movement between the agitator structure and basket produces the rubbing effect on the clothes. The frictional engagement of the basket with the clothes also produces another result. If the clothes were free to travel through the basket the gripper fingers would always maintain the same grip thereon and the position of the clothes would not be changed and they would not be uniformly washed. However, on account of the sudden reversals of the agitator structure and the frictional drag of the corrugated basket on the clothes the gripper fingers will continuously change their grips on the clothes so that the clothes can successively travel toward the rubbing surfaces. Such travel is helped by the centrifugal force acting on the clothes as they are rapidly rotated. Furthermore, as the clothes are rapidly rotated and the basket is dragged along centrifugal force will cause suction effect and flow of the dirty water radially outwardly through the openings 34, and the water piling up against the sides of the tub will flow back thereinto over the top thereof so that there will be a constant circulation of water through the basket and the clothes.

The

the agitator structure and to connect the basket with the driving mechanism for positive rotation. During rapid rotation of the basket the water will be extracted from the clothes by centrifugal force, the clothes be ing thrown outwardly and compressed against the sides of the basket and the water squeezed therefrom, and this water will flow through the openings 34 into the tub. Depending upon the speed and duration of r01 tation of the basket the clothes can be dried to any degree. The machine can be oper; ated until the clothes are entirely dry or retain just suflicient moisture so that when removed they are ready for ironing without need of sprinkling.

After removal of one batch of clothes another batch is charged into the basket and if it is desired to use the drainage water in the tank 69 the clutch 64 is shifted to neutral position and the clutch 84 is shifted to connect the pumpv 83 with the motor to pump the water from the tank into the tub.

I thus produce a simple, compact, laborsaving and efiicient washing machine. With my machine it is unnecessary to first heat the water on a stove and then carry it to the machine tub but the water can be heated directly in the tub. The machine also dispenses with the use of the ordinary wringer, wringing and drying being accomplished more efiiclently by centrifugal force. With my machine it is also unnecessary to hang the clothes on the line for complete drying and'sprinkling of'the clothes after drying preparatory to ironing. With the old fashioned way of sprinkling, the clothes were not uniformly-moistened but with my machine the clothes will retain just suflicient moisture so that they may be readily and efliciently ironed immediately after they are taken from the machine. A considerable amount of labor is also saved by the use of the tank 69 and the pump 83. 7

I do not, of course, desire to be limited to the exact construction,arrangement and operation shown and described as changes and modifications are no doubt possible which would-still come within the scope of the invention- I claim as follows: I

1. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, a bearing hub suspended from the top of said tub, a hollow, vertical shaft supported in said hub, a clothes containing basket supported from the lower end of said shaft to rotate therewith, a second shaft extending through said hollow shaft and supported at the top thereof, a clothes agitator and gripper member supported from the lower end of said second shaft, and means for rotating said shafts.

2. In a clothes washing machine, the combination of a tub provided with a top, a. clothes supporting basket supported at its top from the top' of the tub for ax'ial rotation, a clothes agitator supported at its top from the top of the tub for axial rotation and extending into said basket, the interior of said basket below said agitator being. entirelyfree of shafts, and driving means for independently rotating said clothes basket and agitator.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of October, A. D.,

JOHN NEGRESCOU. 

